Boulder couple building house made of shipping containers

Architect: 'We decided that instead of fighting this weird dimension, we would embrace it'

This shipping container, and another one that will arrive in the spring, will be turned into a home at 505 College Ave. in Boulder.
(COURTESY Mark Alan Gerwing)

The shipping container delivered to 505 College Ave. earlier this week will form the first floor of a home that Boulder couple Mark Gelband and Courtney Loveman say represents their commitment to sustainability and creativity.

They plan to turn the 53-foot-long shipping container and another one that will arrive in the spring into a contemporary home with extensive glass and a second-floor terrace. The home fits the unique dimensions of their lot, which otherwise would have required them to seek a variance to build a house with a usable second story.

Architect Mark Gerwing said it is the first home in Boulder to be built from shipping containers.

"This is repurposing," he said. "It's using existing materials to build a house."

A rendering of Boulder's first house made of re-purposed shipping containers.
(Courtesy)

Loveman said it's been a long and emotionally arduous journey to arrive at their design, but she and Gelband are "thrilled" with the house they have planned.

"You start off one way for a set of reasons, and then you end up making your way to what you should have been doing all along, even if you took a circuitous route to get there," Loveman said.

Because of Boulder's "solar shadow" requirements and because the existing 1950s ranch house is closer to the lot line than is now allowed, Loveman and Gelband could only build a second story that was 10 feet wide unless they got a variance.

When they sought one, neighbors complained vociferously, and the zoning board told them to work it out and come back.

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However, Gelband and Loveman didn't want to design their house by consensus with their neighbors. They went back to the drawing board, looking for a way to build a house that would conform to the zoning requirements while still being a beautiful, functional space in which to raise their three children -- two 14-year-olds and an 11-year-old from previous relationships.

"We decided that instead of fighting this weird dimension, we would embrace it," Gerwing said.

The interior of the 2,800-square-foot home will have wood and insulation. Extensive windows will be cut into the steel siding. The second-story master bedroom will "float in the air." Gelband and Loveman hope to get the house as close to net-zero energy use as possible.

The exterior will be painted, though Loveman said they may leave some signs of the shipping containers' previous life exposed.

"We haven't decided exactly what we're going to do, but to us, it's beautiful to remember that it had this previous life," Loveman said. "It's been across the country. It's been to China."

Gelband said he knows the house is unconventional, but he believes it fits the spirit of the neighborhood, which includes modernist homes designed by Charles Haertling, some of which were controversial in their day.

"When people do things that challenge normative behaviors, the initial reaction is sometimes to be confused and angry and upset, but over time, it's the people who challenge the status quo who end up making a mark," he said.

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